NEWARK, N.J. – Few players in the NBA have a better perspective on Carmelo Anthony’s erstwhile flirtation with becoming a New Jersey Net than Jason Kidd.

Kidd, the player who revived the Nets franchise with back-to-back Finals appearances, was making his first appearance as an opposing player in his former team’s temporary home at the Prudential Center Saturday night. Kidd, who was traded to Dallas at the February 2008 trade deadline under somewhat similar circumstances facing Anthony, said he hasn’t spoken with Melo about the situation. But Kidd didn’t have to; he painted a pretty thorough picture to reporters of the dilemma that Anthony was wrestling with before the proposed trade to New Jersey blew up this past week.

As to Issue No. 1, the Nets’ future home in Brooklyn, Kidd provided the grim perspective that only a player could have.

“Unless it’s built, you can’t believe it,” Kidd said. “That’s the nature of the beast. You look at (Madison Square) Garden, they’re redoing the Garden. So until it’s built, guys can’t believe it. The weather and they’re saying it takes two years … well, I heard the same thing when I was here. So I don’t know how long I’ve been gone, but you can see how long it takes things to get built. If it’s not built, they’re gonna be playing here.”

Kidd’s point is well taken, and it was a perspective that no doubt bothered Anthony as he dealt with four months of attempts by the Nuggets, the Nets and his representatives at Creative Artists Agency to steer him to New Jersey on the hopes of a future in his native Brooklyn. The announcement that the Nets were moving to a new arena in Brooklyn was first made in 2006, yet ground wasn’t broken on the Barclays Center until last spring. Concrete was poured in June, and the steel started going up in November. As of Jan. 10, construction had reached the suite/concourse level (see photo). It is scheduled to open in time for the 2012-13 season.

But players are realists, and believe in things they can see (like an arena) or touch (like a giant stack of money or All-Star teammates.)

“I was very fortunate,” Kidd said. “When I was here, I had great teammates and a president (Rod Thorn) who knew what he was doing. So that makes your job a whole lot easier.”

Kidd was asked if there’s a New Jersey stigma among potential trade targets and free agents around the league. If the question were a basketball, Kidd would have dribbled it out of bounds.

“Um, I, you know, it’s a, it’s a great state,” Kidd said. “One, Jersey’s great. It’s close to the city, great restaurants, great people, great fans. Unfortunately, you have the Turnpike from the airport and that’s pretty much all people get to see. Well, if you’re a golfer, you’ve got great golf courses here.”

Kidd, whose Mavs are expected to at least inquire about what it would take to get Anthony on a rental deal now that the Nets are out of the picture, offered an interesting piece of advice he’d give Anthony if he were advising him. With so much talent concentrated in the Eastern Conference, why wouldn’t Anthony want to stay in the West?

“If I was his advisor, I wouldn’t want him to go East,” Kidd said. “But if he wants to go back home to New York or if as close as he can get is Jersey, then you wish him the best. But you look at the Eastern Conference, there’s some talent over on this side. Then you look at Jersey, New York or whoever gets him, because somebody’s going to get him in the summer time.”

That’s where Kidd wound up going back to the original point, which is how similar his situation was when he got traded by the Nets three years ago. For Kidd, the resolution went all the way down to the trade deadline, and he believes Anthony’s will, too.

“Whenever the trade deadline comes about and goes, that’s the only way it can be solved,” Kidd said. “At the end of the day, he’s going to be there or he’s not.”

The World's Most Famous Arena is now free of asbestos, too. Madison Square Garden will reopen in time for the Knicks' game Friday night against No. 1 pick John Wall and the Wizards.

The team issued a statement Wednesday saying environmental experts had provided assurances that the arena is safe after debris fell on the court Monday night during an asbestos-related excavatiion as part of MSG's $775 million to $850 million renovation scheduled for completion in 2013.

The Knicks-Magic game, which was postponed due to the toxic scare Tuesday night, will be rescheduled at a later date.

In anticipation of LeBron James' free-agent decision, stock in Madison Square Garden Inc. jumped 6.4 percent to $21.57 per share on five times the normal trading volume Wednesday. If only James could capture some of that value as part of signing with the Knicks.

Well, despite a Forbes Magazine report last month that James could pull off such a coup, he can't. Please return to your regularly scheduled free-agent absurdity.

__

The Warriors and Knicks are in advanced talks about a sign-and-trade arrangement that would send free-agent power forward David Lee to the Bay Area for Anthony Randolph and Ronny Turiaf, two people involved in the talks confirmed to CBSSports.com. The trade is being set up as a contingency plan for the Knicks if James chooses to sign with another team Thursday. If James chooses to sign with the Knicks, they will have to renounced his rights -- and thus the rights to sign and trade him under the Larry Bird exception -- in order to clear the necessary salary cap space. Lee's agent, Mark Bartelstein, also is believed to have maintained contact with the Nets, who are in danger of getting shut out in the free-agent chase. But the Golden State scenario for Lee has legs, to an extent.

"It's got legs," one of the people involved in the talks said. "But it needs arms, a torso and a head."

The Knicks, who like other teams in the hunt for James have no clue what he's going to announce Thursday, are exploring other scenarios in which they re-sign Lee -- although Lee is believed to be ready to move on. If James says no to the Knicks, and team president Donnie Walsh orchestrates the Lee trade, then Randolph and Turiaf will go down in ignominy as the players the Knicks got instead of LeBron. If nothing else, that would take some pressure off Amar'e Stoudemire, who will be introduced Thursday in a news conference at MSG.

__

After Ray Allen agreed to a two-year, $20 million deal to return to the Celtics Wednesday, with a player's option on the second year, Boston continued to explore acquiring a big man to fortify the frontcourt while center Kendrick Perkins is out with a knee injury suffered in the NBA Finals. A person familiar with the Celtics' plans said they were in discussions with free agent Jermaine O'Neal, who also was talking with the Nuggets and Mavericks.

Well, moments ago, the NBA released a statement that after reviewing the tape, the rebound has been officially credited to Big Ben.

That means Kareem Abdul-Jabbar can rest easy. His 50-point triple-double in 1975 remains the most recent in NBA history.

Sigh.

It was still amazing to watch LeBron soar desperately through the air to track down what he thought was his 10th rebound as time expired in the Cavs' 107-102 victory. But alas -- and to its credit -- the NBA corrected the record. LeBron's official stat line from that game: 52 points, 11 assists, and nine rebounds.

Here's the NBA statement on the statistical change:

NEW YORK, Feb. 6, 2009 – The NBA announced today that a statistical error was made during the Cleveland Cavaliers-New York Knicks game on Feb. 4 at Madison Square Garden. Cavaliers forward LeBron James was incorrectly credited with a rebound with 39.3 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter that should have been awarded to Cleveland forward Ben Wallace.

Due to the correction, James finished Wednesday’s game with nine rebounds – one rebound short of a triple-double – while Wallace ended with two rebounds. All NBA games are reviewed to ensure the accuracy of the game statistics.

Question: Does this mean that Kobe Bryant's 61-point performance Monday night at MSG was better than LeBron's because LeBron didn't have a triple-double?

Other than Michael Jordan, Reggie Miller was the opponent who had the most transcendent, clutch performances against the Knicks in Madison Square Garden. Who could forget the eight points in 8.9 seconds in Game 1 of the 1995 conference semifinals, or the 25 fourth-quarter points in Game 5 of the '94 conference finals?

Nobody wore the black hat in the Garden better than Miller. Nobody -- not even Jordan -- got after it with Spike Lee on the sideline like Miller.

So, yes, Miller was watching Kobe Bryant's 61-point game against the Knicks Monday night. And yes, he was impressed. But he was also appalled that Knicks fans who used to torment him were chanting "MVP!" for Kobe. So appalled that he was texting his old nemesis throughout the game.

"I was texting Spike as the game was going on, saying how disappointed I was in the fans chanting "MVP!" for Kobe," Miller said Tuesday, speaking on a TNT pre-All-Star conference call. "I was like, 'How the mighty have fallen.'" Because I remember in times past, I never got cheered. I'm sure Jordan never got cheered. And now they are chanting "MVP!" for Kobe? And all (Lee) kept doing was texting back and going, 'Look, times have changed. The climate has changed.'

"I wish I would've gotten the red carpet treatment when I went to the Garden," Miller said. "That would've been nice."

As I followed Kobe Bryant down a narrow corridor leading to the exits after his Madison Square Garden-record 61 points Monday night, someone asked Bryant, "How many points do you think LeBron's gonna try to score?" James, the last visiting player to score 50 at MSG before Bryant's outburst, visits the Garden Wednesday night. The bar has been set pretty high.

"I don't know," Bryant said. "He’s not a natural scorer, though. He’s more of a facilitator."

"I know, but he sees you score 61 at the Garden?" the fan said. "Come on."

"That would be my inclination," Bryant said. "But he’s more the passing type. He might come in here and have a quadruple-double though. He might have 33, 15, 12, and 10 steals or something."

Not a bad prediction. Last March, LeBron fell two rebounds shy of a rare 50-point triple-double -- 50 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds. So there you have it, LeBron. Your turn on Wednesday.